


Superhero Jail

by Val9000



Category: DCU (Comics), Green Lantern - All Media Types, The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: But not all of it, Getting Together, I butchered the canon timeline, I'm bold enough to admit some of this is crack, M/M, Some crack elements, superhero jail exists, time doesn't exist in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 19:57:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16165907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val9000/pseuds/Val9000
Summary: Barry and Hal getting together fic that starts with them in superhero jail after revealing their identities to each other and progresses (the jail is the crack element of my fic but it's not a big part).





	Superhero Jail

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! If you want to drop some prompts down in the comments I'll be happy to try and write them. You can ask for characters involved, ships involved (I usually stick to Hal/Barry but you might be able to convince me to write some other ships), what genre and how seriously I write it. I hope you enjoy this fic!

“Quit making such a big deal about it. Look, my real name is-“

“Stop! What are you doing? You’re not supposed to tell me your secret identity. That’s breaking superhero law!“

“Barry it’s fine. Superhero law says that if I know your name you should know mine.”

“I don’t remember that part.”

“Trust me, Barry it’s fine. Now my name is-“

“I don’t want to go to superhero jail!”

“-Hal Jordan. Now we’re even, Barry Allen.”

“That is so irresponsible. This is horrible. We’re going to superhero jail after this is done.”

“How would they even know?”

“I don’t know they always know! Oh well we’ll deal with that later. Lets just get the kids.”

“It’ll be fine.”

\--

It wasn’t fine. That much Hal could admit as the door to the cell closed, locking Barry and him in. Batman stood in front of the door. 

“I’ll be back to get you in an hour.” And then he left.

Well it could be worse. Hal could be stuck in superhero jail with someone he didn’t like. And him and Barry had bonded – sort of. And Barry was hot so there was that. Speaking of Barry, he was pacing quickly – too fast for Hal to really keep up with so he just stood and watched the blur. 

Barry stopped and turned to look at him, arms out wide in some kind of disbelieving gesture. 

“I can’t believe I’m here with you! I didn’t do anything. I tried to stop you!”

“Barry calm down. It’s fine. It’s just an hour.” Hal decided to try and calm him down even though it wasn’t really anyone’s fault in his mind. It was kind of a dumb rule. He already knew Barry’s identity because Barry accidentally slipped up so why shouldn’t he even it up. (Accidentally revealing your identity was fine but intentionally revealing your identity was not, apparently). And also Barry was hot and Hal wanted to get to know him better. 

“I mean look on the bright side! Now that we know each other’s identities we can hang out.” Hal said once Barry stopped his second round of pacing. 

“It’s just that I’ve never been to superhero jail before. I never wanted to be in superhero jail.” Barry continued as though he hadn’t heard a word Hal had said.

“Well we can hang out in jail.” 

“I don’t want to be in jail, though.”

“It’s fine. We can just pretend this is us hanging out for the first time. No jail included!” 

He clearly wasn’t getting through to Barry if the third round of rapid pacing said anything. If Hal hadn’t just spent all that time on Arena World with Barry, he might’ve just given up on the whole “elaborate plan to ask Barry Allen out”. But it seemed like this could be worth it. A new friendship at least. Being friends with other superheroes was always less stressful and more stressful at the same time. On one hand – you knew the other person could take care of themself. On the other hand – they were more likely to get into life threatening situations. 

Barry stopped pacing again and clicked his fingers as though he had an epiphany. 

“I could vibrate through the wall and get out.”

“That’s a bad idea. I mean – I’m all for a jailbreak I think it’d be really fun – but you’d just end up in jail again and that isn’t what you want.” When did he become the voice of reason in any situation? Barry was starting to seem more reckless than him, which was a big deal. He decided that Barry’s nervousness – and by extension his recklessness – over this was due to his sped up senses and that, to himself, he was being quite rational. Maybe that’s why Hal wasn’t getting through to him – his brain was moving too fast to listen. 

Now that wouldn’t do.

Hal moved forward towards Barry at the same time Barry was moving towards the door, staring absently at a vibrating hand. 

“Barry slow down.” He put his hands on Barry’s shoulders to stop him and seems to get Barry’s full attention for the first time since they were thrown in here. “Why don’t we just get to know each other or something. Hang out, you know? It’s not like we’re going to be in here for the rest of our lives.”

Hal would totally be egging Barry on for a prison break (and was having a hard time stopping himself from doing just that) if it wasn’t for the fact that he actually cared about starting a friendship (or more) with Barry. An hour with only them and nothing else needing their attention sounded like a perfect way to get that. Hal could be rational when it came to flirting. He put on his most charming smile to try and reassure Barry and mentally cheered when Barry smiled back.

“I could just grab us some food. In and out no one would really notice.” 

“Okay! So long as you come back.” This was going well. Food was a good part of any date. 

Barry nodded and Hal clapped his shoulder before letting go. Barry really was in and out. Hal had barely registered that he was gone before he was back. 

“It’s cheap food, I hope you don't mind. It’s all I had the money for.” Barry said and handed him a take away bag, before moving to sit against the wall with his own bag. Hal, obviously, sat down next to him. 

They talked for a bit, getting to know each other. Nothing too heavy yet – it was only the first time they’d met and Hal didn’t really want to be pouring out his family situation. Barry was a little closed off about family as well so Hal guessed something had happened. They mainly talked about their jobs and what they were into. It was strange how well they were getting along when they really didn’t seem to be people who would. Hal wasn’t complaining, though. He liked talking to Barry.

“Well, this was fun. We should hang out more often just, you know, as civilians and not in jail.” Hal said once their hour was pretty much up.

Barry had already moved to stare through the window at the door, no doubt looking for Batman. “Yeah sure.”

“It’s a date then!” 

“Yeah.” 

And if Barry sounded kind of distracted and like he wasn’t really listening Hal wasn’t going to blame him for it. The door was opening, after all, and he had agreed anyway. An hour was a long time for someone like Barry – he was probably just itching to go and run a little more, or have the freedom to run. That was why he was distracted – nothing to do with Hal. 

“I’ll see you later then!” He called out after Barry, who was walking away after Batman had told him not to run. Barry turned around a little and waved back at him. Which was something. 

“I mean really, it’s a good thing that we know each other’s identities because now I can more easily get into contact with Flash if I need to.” Hal said, turning to Batman.

“Uh-huh.” Batman was looking at him with a blank face and his next words were said in a tone that made Hal think Batman knew more about Hal’s true motives than he thought. “I’m sure that’s why you did it.”

“For strategy.” He felt the need to add. Batman was all about strategy, right? He’d let him off with that.

“Sure.”

They were both silent for a few seconds, neither of them leaving. Batman probably sensed that Hal had something else to ask and wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible so he wouldn’t have to deal with him any longer.

“So do you know his number?”

It was probably just as stupid of a question as Batman was expecting, judging by the unimpressed look on his face. Although, to be fair, he usually wore that look when interacting with Hal. 

\--

Hal: heeeey barry! It’s hal jordan you remember me right?

Barry: How did you even get this number? Yes I remember you from jail.

Hal: asked some friends

Hal: also we saved those kids together it wasnt just jail

Barry: Friends? Well hello it’s nice to talk to you again.

That was a good sign! Hal mentally cheered, congratulating himself on his amazing Becoming-Friends-And-Then-Hopefully-More skills. Even if Barry seemed stuck on the fact that they spent time in superhero jail together rather than the fact that they also spent time being superheroes together. Then again they spent most of their bonding while in jail so that’s probably why. Hopefully why.

Hal: sooooo i was wondering whether u’d like to go see a movie or something?

Classic date but also easy enough to say it’s just a friend thing if Barry wasn’t moving as fast as he was in their budding relationship. 

Barry: That sounds fun! What kinda movie were you thinking?

Now that’s where it got complicated. He could go classic date style and watch a romantic movie to set the mood. But that might be too forward for a first date – especially considering Hal didn’t plan on necessarily telling Barry that it was a date. Not right now at least. Besides what if Barry didn’t like romance movies? He wanted Barry to keep hanging out with him so he needs to nail this date. This hang out. Whatever. 

Barry: Hey what about that new romance movie? My sorta nephew wants to see it so maybe we could go and I could see if it’s alright for him?

Hal: Sure ;) 

Okay maybe the winky face was too much because Barry was taking a while to answer. It was only a couple of seconds but Barry was the fastest man alive. And he was answering quickly before and Hal was totally overthinking this. He forced himself to calm down.

Barry: :D 

Barry: I’ll see you Friday? They have a session playing then at 5pm. 

Hal: in central? 

Barry: Yeah I could come pick you up? 

Hal: works fine 

Hal: and oooh sounds fun i’ve never been carried at super speed before

Barry: I’ll pick you up around 4:45. 

Hal: sounds good see you then

Barry: See you Friday.

Hal, once again, mentally congratulated himself. And then that immediately gave way to Not-Panic (Green Lantern and No Fear and all that). “Sort of nephew”? What did that even mean? Was Barry also flirting with him by suggesting the romance movie? Did Barry consider this a date? How fancy was he supposed to dress up? What-

\--

It was 4:48 when Barry arrived at his door. Hal was already standing at the door but when he heard knocking he forced himself to wait a few seconds before answering. He didn’t want to seem too eager or something. 

It seemed like he judged the clothes situation right. They were both evenly matched in terms of a Slightly-More-Fancy-Than-Casual look. Even if Barry looked kind of like a nerd. He was still hot and by now Hal was in this Maybe-Relationship for more than Barry’s looks anyway. If Barry had taken the time to admire him like Hal was trying not to do with Barry (he didn’t want to seem too forward, after all), it was too fast for him to notice. 

“This might be disconcerting.” Barry warned him. 

And then he was somewhere else. Disconcerting indeed. Barry was quite obviously looking him over now – probably making sure he was alright. Hal was glad Barry was still holding onto his arms because otherwise he’d probably fall over and he didn’t really want to do that in front of him. 

“And nothing caught on fire this time! Great!” 

Hal managed to gather himself and look up to see Barry grinning. It was a nice look. Hal straightened up further and slung an arm over Barry’s shoulders in an effort to seem unaffected, and they walked the rest of the way to the cinema.

Hal had quickly discovered that Barry ate a lot more than a normal human. If the amount of food he got when they were in jail wasn’t an indicator, the amount of food Barry got at the cinema was. 

“How do you even have the money for this?” Hal was kind of pour due to spending a lot of time in space and not working and was extremely glad Barry was paying for food. The ticket was enough money for him to be spending.

“Batman helps me cover food costs. Something about ‘it’s in the best interest of the team’. I’m not complaining.” Barry shrugged like it was no big deal and Hal secretly wondered how Batman was able to afford all of this as well. That was for another time, though. 

“Well I’m not complaining either.”

They found fairly good seats and Hal spent the entirety of the trailers trying to subtly watch Barry’s reactions to them so he could figure out what kind of movie to take Barry to next. It didn’t work too well since Barry’s expressions seemed to be in tune with his super speed – appearing and disappearing too fast for Hal to figure them out. 

“So you have a nephew?” Hal asked, because he did need to get the bottom of this. Barry hadn’t mentioned family before and that could’ve extended to a partner, which he definitely needed to know about. 

“Oh yeah he loves romance movies. He makes me watch them with him sometimes. I’ve come to enjoy them as well, you know?” 

“Oh I know. Romance movies have definitely grown on me over the years. So what’s your nephew’s name?”

“Wally. Well technically he’s not my nephew. He’s my best friend’s nephew.” 

Well that lessened the chances of Barry having a partner. Kind of. It really didn’t, though, the more he thought about it. He’ll have to ask later. 

\--

“So Barry. In the spirit of the movie we just watched, humour me.” They were walking out of the cinema, Hal’s arm around Barry’s shoulders again and Barry was looking over at him, curiosity on his face. “Do you have special someone?” He fluttered his eyelashes and everything to try and minimise any chance of Barry taking his question as seriously as he meant it. Barry laughed so it seemed to work. 

“No I’m quite single at the moment.” 

“Oh really? A tragedy, truly. Maybe we could set up a coffee romance for you.”

Barry nudged him playfully with his elbow, a frown on his face that was wavering with the strain of not letting it turn into a smile. “They didn’t work out!”

“Well how about-“

“Oh shush. What about you? Dating anyone?”

“Not at the moment. I’d be interested, though.” He tried to keep his voice as casual as possible. 

“Yeah?” He wasn’t sure Barry really understood what he was trying to convey with that sentence so he counts that as a win. He doesn’t want Barry to think he’s coming onto him right now – he just wants Barry to be aware that it’s a possibility. 

“Yeah.” 

“I could take you back to Coast or you could stay over for dinner?”

“Well if you’re paying…”

Barry laughed and nudged him again. “Don’t tell me you’re only here for my money! Like Bella was!” He mockingly put a hand to his head and leant back into Hal’s arm, pretending to faint.

“Of course not!” Joking about being in a relationship was a good step towards said relationship, right? And it gave Hal clues to Barry’s sexuality. This didn’t necessarily have to mean that he wasn’t straight but the way he was joking about it meant he at least wasn’t homophobic. He hoped, at least. It was always different when being confronted with people you know being gay. 

Barry lowered his voice to say, “it’s Batman’s anyway, so you’d have better luck going for him.”

“Are you kidding me? That guy hates me! And good because I hate him, too.” 

“I think he hates everyone.”

“Clearly not because he’s giving you money.”

“That’s just good strategy, Hal, keep up.” The sentence sent them both into laughter.

\--

They ended up going to a nice restaurant for dinner that they weren’t dressed for but, thanks to Batman, that they had the money for. 

“I mean… maybe Spooky is trying to court you.” Hal suggested when they had sat down. Barry laughed in response, although he was looking at his menu so Hal’s accompanying wink was missed. Oh well. The sentence did the job by itself. 

“Hm. He’s not my type.”

“Which is?”

Barry looked up at him then, which might be a bad thing – he might’ve given himself away – or it could be a good thing. 

“Not brooding.” And that was Barry winking at him. Hal tried not to get his hopes up. 

“You wouldn't even be able to put up with it for his money?” Okay he might be pushing the topic a bit too much but he really wanted an answer on Barry’s sexuality. 

“I’m not Bella, Hal.” Barry schooled his face into portraying a disapproving look, which was quickly broken by a small smile. 

“Of course not – we already established I was Bella.” Barry’s smile turned into a grin. “So that man part doesn’t bother you?” He blurted out accidentally. Barry’s grin disappeared and Hal managed to notice a defensive look before his face went blank – controlled. 

“Does it bother you?”

Hal decided he should take leap of faith even though he’d been doing it all night.

“No. Very okay with it, actually. So?”

Barry was smiling again. “Very okay with it, too.” 

“Nice.” So that was that solved.

\--

It was their fifth candle-lit dinner in a fancy restaurant and there was no discussion of them being anything more than friends. At least they knew a little more about each other now. And they hung out outside of their dinners. This restaurant was playing jazz in the background which Barry had admitted to liking and Hal had admitted to disliking. 

“It reminds me of you.” Barry had said, with a fond smile on his face when Hal decided that maybe he should confront the elephant in the room.

“Is this a date?” 

Barry had the decency to let his surprised look last for a second – which was long enough for Hal to register it. 

“I mean I never really considered them dates but, well… if you want it to be?” The good part about Barry having super speed was his literally light speed thinking that meant Hal didn’t have to wait around for while Barry considered the question. He didn’t think he could take sitting there while Barry thought about it for more than a split second – that blank look on his face giving nothing away. 

But by comparison Hal must be answering quite slow and Barry must be getting nervous, the slightly too fast tapping of his fingers on the table being an indicator. Hal reached out to grab that hand on impulse. Mostly because he didn’t want anyone to notice the almost non-human speed it was going and also because he wanted to hold Barry’s hand. Barry turned his hand over so he was holding his hand back. The gesture had Hal’s heart beating faster. 

“I’d really like this to be a date.” 

Barry’s blank face relaxed into that previous fond smile. “It’s a date then.” 

Hal distantly remembered saying those words when they were being let out of jail when they first met. But that didn’t matter right now because Barry was rubbing his thumb in small circles on Hal’s hand. The he tapped his thumb against Hal’s hand once and let go, continuing to eat his dinner. Hal was pretty sure his face was going to split in two with how wide he was smiling. 

\--

“You know I’ve actually been working up to this since the beginning.” Hal said, his arm around Barry’s waist this time as they exited the restaurant. 

“Oh?”

“Oh yeah. Right from the beginning.”

“The jail?”

“No, before that.”

Barry turned his head to look at Hal, confusion evident on his face. 

“The kids?”

“Why else did you think I revealed my identity to you?”

“Because you figured out my identity?”

“It was because I thought you were hot.”

Barry laughed and wrapped his arm around Hal’s waist, squeezing lightly. He also pressed a kiss to Hal’s cheek and Hal will deny that he blushed because of it until he dies. 

“Well, even though we ended up in superhero jail, I’m glad you did.” 

“So am I.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! If you want to drop some prompts down in the comments I'll be happy to try and write them. You can ask for characters involved, ships involved (I usually stick to Hal/Barry but you might be able to convince me to write some other ships), what genre and how seriously I write it. I hope you enjoyed this fic! Thanks for reading.


End file.
